Allergies are an awful, ongoing problem that affects many people's lives every single day. Most people associate allergies as a lifelong condition that you have as a child, but in actuality, many allergies develop later in life. All it takes is for your immune system to wrongly react to a common substance, such as grass or nuts, and you could have a new allergy as a grown adult. If you suspect that you have developed a new allergy then there is a simple but very effective test that you can take to prove it one way or the other. This procedure is known as skin prick testing.

What Is Skin Prick Testing?

Skin prick testing is a very harmless way of subjecting your body to all the common types of allergens to see if it reacts poorly to any of them (which would indicate an allergy). It works by slightly irritating the skin with a little prick (often this is so minor you don't even feel it) and then applying a tiny amount of an allergen to the 'pricked' area. This is done up to 50 times, depending on whether you know what you are looking for or not, before you wait for a little bit to see if there are any reactions. If there are, then you will be subjected to further tests to definitively prove your condition.

What If You Just Have Sensitive Skin And Not An Allergy?

Skin prick testing involves a bunch of control measures to ensure that you are not simply having a reaction to the process. For example, in addition to all the allergens being applied, the medical professional will also put on two chemicals they expect to see a result from: histamine and saline. The histamine should always provide a positive result (i.e. your skin should flare up as it would for an allergy) while the saline should always provide a negative result. If either of these doesn't happen then it indicates you have a slightly different response and you may require a different method of diagnosis.

What Happens If You Do Have An Allergy?

If you discover that you do have an allergy there is no need to be alarmed. Millions of Australians have an allergy to one chemical or another and live fulfilling lives. Even the most severe allergies can be managed in a way that is not too intrusive, and there are many safety precautions you can take to ensure that even if the worst comes to worst you have a method to counteract your allergy. Most of the time an adult-onset allergy simply means you have to avoid owning a certain pet, eating a certain type of food or wearing a particular material.

For more information, contact a clinic like Darwin Dermatology.